Conventionally, a disk video camera which records sensed image data on a disk medium is known. Since such disk video camera records/plays back data in accordance with management information used to manage data recorded on a disk, this management information must be played back first when a disk is exchanged. Upon exchanging the disk, laser power adjustment processing and the like are also executed together.
However, in general, an access speed to the disk is low, and it takes much time to read out management data from the mounted disk. In order to adjust the laser power, after predetermined reference data are written on the disk using a plurality of levels of different laser powers, these data are read out, and an optimal laser power value is determined in accordance with the states of the readout data. For this reason, a long startup time is required, and it takes time before the video camera is ready to use.
To solve such problem, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-153040 discloses the following technique. That is, disk management information is stored in a main body memory. When management information of the mounted disk is stored in the main body memory, the management information stored in the memory is used without reading out the management information from the disk, thus omitting the operation for reading out the management information from the disk, and shortening the startup time.
However, even in an apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-153040 above, when management information of the exchanged disk is not saved in the memory, it must be read out from the disk, thus taking time.
In the video camera, since disks are often exchanged in advance for image sensing at a travel destination or the like, the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-153040 cannot exchange disks in a power-OFF state, and must exchange disks in a power-ON state. When a power supply is turned on from the power-OFF state, only after management information associated with the mounted disk is read out at that time, the disk can be exchanged with another disk. Hence, a considerably long time is required until a recordable state.